1. Field of the Invention
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to an object execution mechanism, and to an object execution method and apparatus for executing an object based on an input pressure level with a haptic feedback indicative of an attribute of the object.
2. Description of the Background
Typically, electronic devices (e.g., personal computers and mobile communication terminals) that can execute application programs are provided with at least one input device and a display for a user to search for and execute a task while viewing visual representations of various tasks and objects. With the advancement of technology and change of users' needs, text-based visual representations have been replaced by graphical images and icons.
Objects (e.g., files and folders containing multimedia data including text, audio, and still and motion pictures) and icons representing the objects are stored together with attribute information providing details about the creation of the objects. For instance, the attribute information of a file can include creation time, file format, file name, and playback time. The attributes are visually provided to the user when the corresponding file, folder, or icon is selected by the user. Assuming a computing environment in which a specific application is running on a computer with a display of files related to the application, a series of commands input by the user (e.g., placing a mouse pointer on the file and then clicking a right button of the mouse) may make the computer display the attribute information (i.e., the file size, file name, and the creation time of the file) of the selected file. If the selected file is executed, the execution command may be input by a behavior commonly adopted for all kinds of files (e.g., clicking the left button of the mouse). In such a conventional file execution method, the user may input the attribute information request command by clicking the right button of the mouse or input the execution command by clicking the left button of the mouse for executing the selected file regardless of the attribute information of the file. That is, the conventional file execution method may be limited to providing the attribute information of a selected file without visual presentation. Furthermore, since all file formats are executed using the same input behavior, the user's recognition of the attributes of the executed file may be limited. There is therefore a need to develop a method for providing the user with the attribute information of a selected object in another sensory modality (e.g., method) rather than the conventional sensory modality, and for executing the selected object with different input behaviors according to the attribute information.